The present invention relates, generally to the field of infant support devices, and more specifically, to a device for supporting human infants for simultaneous nursing by a woman of more than one infant.
Feeding multiple infants, such as twins and triplets, requires a great deal of the mother's time. This is the case whether the babies are bottle fed or breast fed. Especially when the infants are breast fed, if only one baby is fed at a time, the mother may have to spend up to ten hours per day nursing. Thus, any means for facilitating this process is welcomed by the mother.
It is particularly helpful to the nursing mother of multiple infants if she can have her hands free so that other tasks may be attended to while the babies are feeding.
Previously, mothers of multiple infants who wanted to feed two babies at once generally propped themselves in bed or on a couch and supported the babies on pillows stacked around the mother. Clearly this position is very limiting in that the babies must be held at all times to keep them from shifting out of the desired position, or even tumbling off the pillows to the floor. Necessarily, in the above-described position, the mother's hands are generally occupied attending to the positioning of the infants. Further, the soft, uneven surroundings tend to make it difficult for a woman nursing in this position to do anything else constructive during the nursing time.
The only other known product which has attempted to address these needs has been marketed and sold in medical supply retailing facilities from at least about 1991 or 1992 under the trade name, NURSE MATE by Four Dee Products of Houston, Tex. This product is essentially a soft, flat pillow with a convoluted top. The pillow is fitted around the mother's waist and is connected to her by a strap around her back. For use of this known device, the mother sits on a couch or in bed or in a wide armchair and positions the pillow to rest an her lap. A bed pillow beneath the known product provides extra height if necessary.
By contrast the present invention is not supported by the mother's body, but by the arm rests of a chair, such as a rocking chair or glider, with rigid arms. The new multiple infant feeding device includes a rigid platform with parallel guides fixed on the lower surface thereof to flank the chair arms and thereby prevent lateral movement of the platform. A thick cushion is supported on the rigid platform and covered with a removable, washable soft cover which is sized for complete coverage of the cushion and which extends around the edges and beneath the lower surface of the platform where it is selectively removably secured in place.
To prevent the infants from tumbling off, straps and/or harnesses are connected to the new device, over the cover of the device and hook and loop style, or other fasteners are provided on the cover to permit the mother to keep objects such as a face cloth, toys, pacifiers, etc within easy reach.
The new multiple infant nursing device can be provided in various sizes and shapes, as desired, and as may be necessary to fit the user and the user's particular rocking chair or other seating device.
Of course, the new device is not necessarily limited to use by nursing mothers, but may also be handily used by anyone wishing to bottle feed two infants simultaneously in a convenient position with the babies safely and comfortably positioned. In this case, the adult user can be seated comfortably and have the feeding infants positioned at a convenient level. Further, the mother or other user can be more comfortable than is otherwise possible while feeding infants when the user is in recovery from surgery, such as a Caesarian Section or gall bladder operation, because the new device supports the infants without placing any pressure or painful contact on the user's body. This cannot be said of nursing or otherwise feeding infant's when propped up in bed or even when using a pillow such as the known NURSE MATE.
If the babies are mature enough to support their bottles themselves, the supervising, seated adult can still use the device as a work surface to assist in accomplishing other tasks while the babies are bottle feeding. Indeed, the new device is handy and comfortable for use as a work station even when not being used for the care and feeding of infants.
Accordingly, it is among the several objects of the present invention to provide a device for safe support of two infants for simultaneous breast feeding thereof, which device can be used by a nursing mother seated, for example, in a rocking chair, a glider, or other arm chair having hard, rigid arms upon which the new device is positioned.
It is further among the objects of the present invention, having the features indicated, that the new device permit the mother to have her hands free during much of the nursing time and also provide a sufficiently firm support surface that the surface can be used by the mother during nursing to accomplish such tasks as letter writing, sewing, placing telephone calls, etc.
It is also among the objects of the present invention, having the features indicated, that the new device be easily used by mothers of substantially all sizes and shapes, that it not actually attach to the woman using it, but is adapted for securing babies thereto in a safe and comfortable manner and be adjustable in such adaptation for securing the babies to account for their differing and/or changing sizes.
It is further among the objects of the present invention, having the features indicated, that the device be adapted for releasably retaining thereon other objects which the user may wish to have readily at hand.
Accordingly, in furtherance of the above objects, the invention is, briefly, a device for support of two infants for simultaneous feeding thereof by a sole user. The device includes a platform disposed on arms of a chair in which the user of the device is seated, and a cushion disposed on the rigid platform upon which the infants are supported for simultaneous feeding by the user of the device. The invention further includes a cover to prevent the infants from being in direct contact with the pad, and infant retention devices to prevent the babies from falling from the support platform.
These and other objects will be in part apparent and in part pointed out hereinbelow.